Outplayed by a more skillful and dynamic Belgian team, the USA had an upset within reach thanks to goalkeeper Tim Howard and a
belated surge by its offense.

The 2-1 overtime loss, which ended the USA's World Cup at the round of 16, will be remembered for its dramatic ending as the USA fought for an equalizer --
but also for an offense that never found its rhythm at this World Cup.

Starters:RATING PLAYER (TEAM) GP/G9 Tim
Howard (Everton/ENG), 104/0. Howard made a cliffhanger out of what could have been a rout. His 1st minute foot save off a close-range shot off Divock Origi was the first of
Howard’s 16 (!) saves. He stopped a wide variety of Belgium efforts, including several one-v-ones.

NR Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim/GER), 26/1. Went off injured
in the 32nd minute.

5 Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), 23/0. With the central defense under constant pressure, he helped keep some crosses from hitting their target and
interfered with through balls.

6 Matt Besler (Sporting KC), 21/0. Constantly cleared balls out the penalty area. Had he not gotten roasted by Romelu Lukaku in
overtime on the go-ahead goal by Kevin De Bruyne and lost Lukaku on the second, Besler would have been rated among the best.

8 DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla/MEX), 119/17. Prevented a sure goal in the first half when he cut off a low pass headed to Marouane Fellaini standing in front of an open goal. Won several tackles and attacked from his left back position.

6 Jermaine Jones (Besiktas/TUR), 46/3. Although he toiled as usual and helped with the late surge, was part of a central midfield that failed to keep possession long
enough to give the backline some relief.

4 Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes/FRA), 32/1. Looked good on the ball when he got it, which
was too infrequent, and didn’t provide a threat from the wing.

5 Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders), 109/39. His first three shots lacked power and were easily
saved. He missed a chance to equalize in overtime when he shot into goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois after a clever free kick play.

Substitutes:RATING PLAYER (TEAM) GP/G8 DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders), 7/0. After replacing Johnson at right back in 32nd minute threatened frequently down the
wing.

3 Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), 22/9. In stoppage time of regulation play, he missed the kind of opportunity he was sent on to finish, banging
high over the goal from the edge of the penalty are. Also missed Yedlin’s cross last in second overtime.

7 Julian Green (Bayern Munich/GER), 3/1. Came in for
the second overtime and volleyed home the goal that gave USA a lifeline.

Agree fairly well with the ratings, Wondo missed the best chance that we had to win in regulation. Bradley had a fair game, his motor is amazing, nice assist to Green, gave away the ball at times. Besler had a killer slip, otherwise he played well. After all is said and done, a reasonable result. Good luck in 2018!

Dempsey, Bodoya, and Zusi collectively were not good--no movement, no pace, nothing dynamic at all. Yedlin was good, but apparently he has no left foot, because not once did he cut in and let one rip lefty. Green is the real deal, and he'd better start in our next friendly, along with Yedlin and Brooks. However, we need a #10. This was the game in which we needed Donovan. Gideon Z--it's your turn!

Howard was the reason this game stayed with in reach. The defense battled relentlessly as the midfield let play after play come through unchallenged. Bradley deserves no more than a 3, he was highly ineffective and until Dempsey was moved back into the midfield there was a gaping hole. Very disappointed that Bradley was allowed to continue on the field.

Bradley was a big disappointment during this game and the world cup, Beasley, Howard, yedlin, and Gonzalez all had great games. Besler defensively lost the battle twice against lukaku and didn't follow the unwritten rule of defending, "the ball or the man goes by, never both." I would like tp hear klinsmanns rationale to put Cameron in the midfield over Beckerman? Beckerman would have fouled on 2nd goal before that counter developed, Overall, Belgium was clearly the better team, klinsmann deserves praise for his results, but no back up for altidore, no creativity in midfield, Cameron over Beckerman, and the Landon Donovan factor, would any of this made a difference?

Good evening to all. Well the ride is over, but the performance by the national team at this World Cup will be remembered for a lot of things done. Now that we have to look ahead till 2018, US soccer must continue to build. In the lead up to the World Cup, soccer here in our country was enthralled. Being put in the group with Germany, Ghana. and Portugal. Landon Donovan being left out of the national team, Jozy Altidore discovering his scoring touch only too miss out on the rest of the tournament with his injury. I know that most of us here that leave comments have very good insight in soccer in our country. I don't often comment, I have seen that we do care about "Soccer in America".

Now the next steps forward, the goalpost is in the hands of Brad Guzan, however don't count out Howard yet! I hope we see Besler, Brooks,Cameron, Gonzalez, Johnson, Chandler, Yedlin becoming an experienced backline. Hopefully Eric Lichaj ,Will Packwood, Tim Ream, Jonathan Spector and other upcoming MLS defenders are healthy and playing well enough to be part of the cycle. In the midfield one can hope that Joe Corona, could become that playmaker that can run and organize the midfield. Much was expected of Michael Bradley in that role, however if another creative attacking midfield can play with and read Bradley, that gives the midfield options.

Bradley Sucked, because he was put into the position of playing Quarterback while being positioned ON THE OTHER TEAMS LINE OF SCRIMMAGE... So Disappointed that Klinsmann wasted Bradley's Strength by Forcing him to play out of position... Ditto for Poor Dempsey.. And to add insult to (Broken Nose) Injury, his Teammates keep chipping the ball up in the Air to him..He had to shy away from all those balls.. Count them up.. Must have been 10 times he had to back off in the Air..

During this World Cup Kyle Beckerman, and Jermaine Jones were absolutely phenomenal! If we can get Mo Edu, Jose Torres, and Danny Williams to play well and often with their clubs,and with the same tenacity as Beckerman and Jones. Any of these three could be in next cycle too. On the outside what can we say about Graham Zusi, his role offensively was great, defensively not. The service that he provides with his crosses and corners must continue. Alejandro Bedoya has a great work rate, pace, pace, pace was the downside. If he improves and he will, that along with Zusi's improving on the defense we got something there.

The wings is where, I wished we had the speed and size. Brad Davis was not the answer. I love the guy he is so great with his club, especially the past three seasons. I feel that Brek Shea, yes Brek Shea! would have been in if not being injured and finding decent playing time, would have been the answer. At 6-3,left footed and 24 years old, I can only imagine what could have been. That being said if he gets healthy, stays injury free, and plays we got some thing there.

The fact that Jozy was injured, Aron Johannsson, Mix Diskerud who was listed as a midfielder, and Chris Wondo damn so close! With Aron and Mix it did not pan out. I know both are 23 and getting experience, however here is where Donovan and Johnson with Wondo could have matter. Still keeping Aron and Mix,in the midfield as wingers in lieu of Davis and Green. Yes Green! he scored against Belgium, however if Donovan or Johnson would have been in where Wondo was, before the game ended in regulation the outcome could have been different. The experience of netting a game winning goal at the level of a World Cup could have came in handy. It is different at the club level however I feel that Wondo should have been starting instead of being a sub. Donovan and Johnson could have been the subs.

MW -- do you actually watch the game? Your ratings of Zusi and Bedoya are ill-informed at best! Especially regarding Bedoya! You state that Cameron didn't help move play forward. You described JJ as being part of a midfield that "failed to keep possession long enough". Assuming that MB is part of that midfield, it appears that both Zusi and Bedoya would have been lacking service from the middle. In addition, Bedoya was tasked with supporting Beasley on defense ( check out what happened when Davis was asked to do the same thing). So, Bedoya wasn't seeing much of the ball( as you, MW, stated) and he was also supporting DMB ( who had an outstanding game defensively !?!?) Therefore it's logical to rate him as a 4. Great job!

There is much that will be said, what could have been , should have been, in the coming days. That will last only so long till the Cup is over. As Americans we should be proud of the effort of our men's team. If lighting would have struck twice, oh so close it almost did! I feel that our chances of winning next years Gold Cup are very good. The US will return to Brasil in 2016. Yes our U23 Team must qualify no question. we cannot afford to miss out the opportunity to get young America players being on the "Big European " clubs and hopefully playing champions league. The 2016 Copa America being played here in the US, we should be favored to be at least a semi-finalist if not in the final possible USA vs. Argentina, Brasil, Mexico match.

Stuart D, I agree that Zusi and Dempsey were non-factors (though Dempsey could have turned that around on that fine set-piece). Bedoya put out a lot of effort, but rarely threatened (though to be fair, neither did anyone else). Beasley was a beast. MB got the higher rating for the assist, but otherwise did not play particularly well. I think these ratings are reasonable (though Jones did not play as well as he had in the previous games). I didn't think Wondo should have come in (because we spent so little time in their penalty area, where he excels), but he had his chance (and unfortunately could not convert). But I think these ratings are largely accurate...

We overchirved a bit for our line up compares
To the elite 8. I am pleased with the spirit and
Never say die attitude that USA has above
Most teams. Bradley had a perfect touch chip
To allow us to even get a goal so bashers can
Shut up considered he was the best answer
Even playing out of position. Injuries took a big
Bite or toll on the squad, but the future looks
Bright and. Even the negative joes out there
Must step back and congratulate the team
And coach for a good showing in WC14. !!!

To all the commentators does the rating or number really matter? What matters is all who saw playing time, played their best in the most challenging group, most travelled team, banged up broken nose and all! Mike I have read your articles for the longest time. I think we can give our men's team a pass.

Kudos to our USA team for overachieving but at what point will we stop glorifying our team's spirit and start expecting a skilled and talented team?? In 2018 will we be just happy bunkering in the back and commending our team for fighting through??

It's not a Technical/Technique Problem.. We gave away WAY too many unforced errors.. It's Mental.. Lofting Balls up in the Air to a Lone Forward, with a Broken Nose, is not a Technical problem, it's Composure problem.. Belgium where not Putting High Pressure on US.. We just had too many players Freak out.. Whole Tournament Long.. That was Caused by poor Tactical Distribution of Bradley&Dempsey, by JK, due to his Non-Selection of Back-up for Altidore..

Well my fellow soccer commentators, this is the only site that I like to post comments. I hope you all keep coaching, commenting, supporting the "Beautiful Game" here in the United States. Everyone have a great summer, enjoy the rest of the World Cup, support our leagues and teams from MLS, NASL,USL,NWSL. Take care oh one last thing. Tim Howard in his effort this evening can be bestowed as our greatest goalkeeper ever. I saw Friedel vs. South Korea in 02. I saw Keller vs. Brasil in 98. I saw Meola vs. Colombia, Romania in 94. Tim Howard is our number 1, with respect to those I mentioned, Howard surpassed them this evening in matches played and minutes played. Goals allowed 11,third most allowed. Meola 12, Keller 10, Friedel 8 at the World Cup. He and Friedel have one shut-out each USA vs. Mexico 02, USA vs. Algeria 10. Nuff said!

Miguel, I completely agree with you (and others) that Tim Howard is World Class. Simply amazing! So now, I ask our youth coaches to please, please, please, teach Ball Control over everything. These young men on our national team gave everything they had, and I absolutely applaud them for that, but we just aren't up to (much of) the rest of the world when it comes to Technical Skills. When we combine our American Drive with awesome skill and tactical awareness, then look out. We're getting closer, but we need to convince parents that, when the kids are young, that it's more important HOW YOU PLAY than whether you win or lose a U9 game.

First off... I think this was a huge step forward for the USMNT. As far as the ratings go... I don't have much criticism for any of them. There were mistakes and missed opportunities, but I think they all showed heart and played as well as possible against a potentially great side in Belgium. Also as a whole, during this tournament. Timmy Howard was brilliant, but no surprise there. What did surprise me was that Omar Gonzales was great. I've never really rated him that high, but was happy to see him play the way he did this WC. Overall I feel like we really grew individually and as a team, and will be ready in four years to take the next step. Well done boys. You've made us believe.

New Order. Reality Check. We should praise the spirit and fortitude that this squad had , to show well for the blue collar resume the US had there. You can expect more in the future, but reality suggests different this round. You take what you get and leave a few players behind that could make it or not. We are closing the gap believe it or not. We are taking positive strides all be it small steps forward. There is no magic wand to unrealistically wave when we are pulling from the MLS which in its self is an infant league slowly gaining ground on other countries where its a way of life from youth up. As long as we are competitive and improving then realistically we are moving forward. 2018 looks promising. JK
Is doing a fantastic job, bc he stays positive while understanding the realty of what there is in place. Go USA!

talk, the usa has always been commended for spirit and fortitude for as long as I can remember and not much else. I think last world cup's team showed a little bit more skill than this one. IS JK realistic with what he jhas?? Of course he is!! Why else would he bunker so much for so many games even though he promoted we would play an attacking style of play?? All I am asking is when will expect for our team to actually play teams straight up and match up with skill and tecnique ??

SoccerTalk** Are WE "Closing The Gap" or are the others "Falling Back" to us.??? Look at this years remaining teams... Any of them Resemble Teams of past..?? Brazil(Pele,Zico,Ronaldo)Holland(74-78)WGer(74,86)Argentina(86)France of Platini, then Zidane, Then España... Not one of the teams left could compare to Teams of past.. Weakest World Cup Ever.. NFL style Parity is settling into World Soccer..

Everyone will (should) have an opinion - and Monday Morning Quarterbacking will never end.
However, one thing I think we can all agree on - that very little people discussing - is WHAT IS UP WITH OUR TRAINERS? WHY WERE THERE SO MANY NON-CONTACT INJURIES?
If anyone should be fired - it should be this team of trainers - one injury - it happens. But the rash of non-contact injuries by the USMNT is unacceptable. This is poor planning, poor understanding of what the players can endure, poor preparation (or over preparation) - who knows - maybe it was nutrition. Overall - it indicates we have a problem here - and someone should address it.

I don't think we should blame Wondo for the elimination. He did failed putting th ball in the back of the net on the only two chances he had...But why only two? If JK had laid out his team to play as we play the last twelve minutes, Wondo and Dempsey would have had far many more opportunities. I am not sad about the rsult, I am because we demonstrated in the last 12 minutes that we were more capable of that we showed during 108 minutes... For every 10 Belgian attack it was 2 Americans...With that rate you cannot expect to win a match.

Klinsmann deserves heaps of praise for his evaluations of players and for selecting those who were hungry to succeed. The successful WC teams integrate the next generation of players and only keep certain veterans. I was unhappy when Donovan was left out but I really don't see him performing at such a high level as our players who stood out. If our country had another forward to fill in for Altidore we would have been much better off, but there is no such player. We can debate certain selections against Belgium, and clearly we failed for much of the game at building any attack. But Cameron with Gonzalez gave a presence on set pieces we lacked in some earlier games. We hung in against a deep and creative team. Yedlin and Green were great, and the staff turned Beasley into the best left back we have had in years. Kudos to Klinsmann and his assistants.

We had two broken noses that could not be prevented. The two big injuries which critically hurt us were to Altidore and Johnson. Both were similar and also very diffiult to prevent. They were both sprinting at full speed; Altidore stretched forward to head the ball down to himself, Johnson stretched a leg out to gather in the ball to himself, and they both strain/tear? a hammy. JK made a big mistake not having an Altidore replacement. You can argue that Altidore and Johnson were two of our core/best players. We did well without them.

Interview with David Beckham: "David, what's the most important thing in soccer?" "First touch." "Okay, what's the second most important thing in soccer?" "First touch." "Haha. All right, what's the third most important thing in soccer?" "First touch."

Agree with most of the ratings. Actually felt Bradley had his best game of Cup. Wish he had played with the pace and energy he showed in extra time earlier. Bedoya and Zusi worked hard but did not play well. I was deeply disappointed by Dempsey. His work rate just was not there. Much of the criticism of Wondo is unwarranted and focused on missing a supposed sitter. Go back and watch the replay - Courtois had it smothered. If that was a missed sitter then apparently Belgium missed about a dozen of them. Wondo did all the little work that Dempsey would not - pressing the gaps, moving all along the front, trying to get in behind the D. That created space for others and is part of the reason opportunities increased. I really have grown tired of the Donovan would have made all the difference arguments. This is the 2014 version of LD and he didn't even make the difference in the Galaxy loss to the Carolina Railhawks last week. I would love to have seen him on the squad but lets all remember as we trot out our JK should have selected (fill in the blank) picks with the certainty that hindsight and counter factuals provide, that on these very same boards many people ranted against the selections of Beasley, Jones, Johnson, Altidore, Yedlin and Green among others. It is easy for all of us to be right from the comfort of our keyboard and when we can simply ignore our posts that were spectacularly wrong.

Greg, you're right about Wondo's chance. It would have been easy for him to direct it right at Courtois, who had most of it covered. Wondo tried to direct it into the open upper right corner, and missed. Disappointing, but he gave it a good effort (he was trying to do the right thing, which was more difficult than it looked). Overall, the team put out the effort (and was usually good defensively, and on the counter-attack). JK can be criticized for who he left out of the squad, but I thought his subbing was generally good (though I thought the Wondo sub against Belgium was unlikely to pay off, since we had so little possession and Wondo is not a break-away threat). The only thing I question is whether we consciously chose to defend, or Belgium was so good we didn't have a choice.

The one thing I took away from watching this game was one player that gained the respect/space from Belgium like no other - Yedlin. I was down on his initial selection, but Klinsmann's pick was something special. Here is a young kid with probably the least skills on the team, not big and no left foot. But what does that matter when he burned the towering Belgium defenders the first couple of times to the extent every run after that he was given huge space facing up to the defender. Why - because of his speed and quickness - not size, not skill. he had the speed to turn the corner and have change left over - priceless. We as a nation had better rethink our development of skills being the key in the international arena. Give me speed and quickness and anyone can teach that person the needed skills. God blesses a person with speed, a coach can only develop the skills. Who were the playmakers for Belgium? A couple of players at 5'7" and 5'8" - but quick and speedy - much more so than our guys. For 2018, we had better bring to the forefront all players who have exceptional speed and quickness and develop their skills from there. There are a 1000 guys with the same skills as a Messi or Ronaldo - what separates them is Phenomenal speed and quickness.

NWO, Just feel that we must draw the positives (small as they may be) from this cup as well as the USMNT strength thus far which are spirit, grit... which has been a staple for the US forever. I am not a proponent of "bunkering" but you play to move on and not being unrealistic when we don't have the flamboyant 1v1 players to produce many goals. Ugly as the stats look, we were in all the games and were a Wondo target of slipping past Belgiam.
Player development spurns the great players as well as finding those stars in the barrios. JK used this bunch to the best of its abilities which was a struggle w/ the injuries. Realistic goals were met getting out of the group and hanging close w/ a chance to steal the knock out game.
1314, We are closing the gap. May not be as pretty as the Maradona, Zindane, or even JK cups, but they don't play hinesight World Cups only what is the present.

to JOHN 7/2 9:52am ** "Klinsmann deserves heaps of praise for his evaluations of players and for selecting those who were hungry to succeed"..Fact is; we are no better off than we were under Lothar, Bob G., Steve, Bora, Bruce, Bob B., JK… Some years a little better, some years a little worse…..30 years and No Improvement to Show… A VERY Marginal rise across the board, but still NO Game Breaking Player… Good thing is; NFL Parity has set into World Soccer and the Rest of the World has COME DOWN to our Level, Except for a few Exceptional Game Breakers… Messi, Robben, Alexis, Ronaldo, James, Neymar, Lukaku, Muller,… The other 9 players on the Field could change Jerseys and YOU WOULDN’T NOTICE THE DIFFERENCE …!!!! All the US lacks is a Game Breaker…. As for JK, Let him Stay FOR NOW… After all, he finally got some “REAL GAME” coaching experience… Remember he had NONE, before taking over Germany in 94.. All his Games in Preparation for WC96(in Germany) were Friendlies(Confed Cup95??)… at WC96(as Home team) he beat those “BIG” Powers; Costa Rica, Poland, Ecuador, Sweden,… only Toughie was win vs ARG on PKs…Lost in Semi’s to Italy… as for Coaching Bayern Munich??? ++ 22-9-8 in UEFA/Bundesliga before being FIRED with 5 games to go in Season….
Sunil, better keep his feet to the Fire or FIRE Him.. We need a Coach who BELIEVES WE CAN WIN...

After coaching for 39 years internationally and domestically, reading this article and peoples comments I came to this conclusion. The truth is that the USA did a good job. JK made a good effort. But in end in the USA it doesn't matter if you play beautiful or ugly football. If you finish second, fifth, or last. You are a still a doormat. Americans love winners. And at this moment in time we are losers. If General Patton was coaching the US National team he would never tell the American people or the world that we are not good enough. He would tell the American people and the rest of the world that we are going to conquer the world and we are coming to kick your butts straight to hell. That's what he told the American people and the world in 1944. General Patton is not here today but the US still loves a winner. Question that we need to ask ourselves is how are we going to become winners, champions, number one, the best, GOATS? Because for the last 40 years people have been saying that the US is going to be great one day in Soccer. We have always had good players in the US but we never have had any superstars to take us to the next level. Why? Because our system is wrong. We don't need more coaches, $300 mesh soccer shoes, coaching curriculums, coaching dvds, tournaments, nice multi color uniforms, private trainers and all the gimmicks out there. What we need is a place,a sandlot, play ground environment for kids to play 7 dyas a week for free, starting at the age of 5. We need a soccer revolution in the USA. We need 100,000 futsal courts especially in the inner cities. When we see this happen then we will start to see magical players appear throughout our nation. Then phase two can kick in. Then We can create a NEW SPARTA for these magical players. Meanwhile people will keep blaming the coaches, too many German Americans, no Latino players, bad college system, the MLS has too many internationals, and blame game keeps on going. Special Players win championships not coaches or good players. The US team and their staff did a good job but they are still doormats. If we want to be number one we need to change our environment. We need radical change and this change is not going to come from the system that is currently in place. That is the truth!!!! So instead of making excuses or playing the blame game go out and change US SOCCER!!!!

Wondoloski was very good not mediocre or meh. In the last ten minutes of the game USA consistently brought the ball up into the attacking half because Wondo was there for the connection, winning the headers back to his midfield, then turning and getting open for the next ball forward.
Memorably he did miss play Jones' brilliant header, that was painful. A touch to Dempsey and the entire nation of Belgium would have dissolved, literally. American children would have had to learn the capital of Flanders before the next school year was up.
But that ball was only there (and not at Tim Howard's end) because Wondo had won it twice in the prior 15 secs. Sure he passed up the opportunity to go one on one but that would have been a move for Landon in his prime. (It would have been interesting if Landon had been the late sub and gotten that late deep ball on the right flank. He might well still be able to scorch a tired Vertonghen.)
Yes Wondo missed the goal and that one one had 4 W's on it , develop, develop, luck and anticipation that are the basis of his goal scoring. Oh how we all want that one back but it is no reason to give him a 4.
Jones had a great Cup, Michael Bradley must have been too much in the grunt work because he never was close to pulling off the inspirational plays that we all had hoped for.

Talk, how long are we going to be forced to draw the same positivies of every world cup and not much else?. "They played hard" "It was a team effort" "we hung in there the whole game" "Defensive is all we could do". How about we accompany the played hard positive with "our forwards were unstoppable" or "our midfield showed great skill" or "our wings flew up and down the wings on great combination play"?? I would love to hear this. Where does everyone here realistcially see us in 2018 with or without Klins?? WHo here feels that Klins will bring in more German born players and staff??